The one thing we like more than building our own PCs is doing so for very little cash. Now’s the best time for that: Black Friday deals often include amazingly low prices on components, fantastic combo and bundle deals, and extras like a copy of a video game.

Last year, I decided to see just how low you could go using Black Friday deals. I came up with three budget gaming builds, all based around a Micro Center combo deal on AMD’s FX-8350 and a compatible AM3+ motherboard. The cheapest of them was $350, inclusive of the Windows license.

It was great fun, and I wanted to do it again for this year. But since good deals and discounts have been launching throughout November, I structured the effort a little differently this go-round.

About our builds

Because the deals have been trickling out, the first version of this article listed all the worthwhile component deals. That way, if you saw something particularly cheap, you could buy it while it was still available.

Now that most everything’s known, I’ve assembled the build lists. With the exception of the Thermaltake PSU in Build #3, the deals are still available. (As for that PSU, there is an alternative for $5 more. See the parts list.)

Update (11/24/17): As the weekend progresses, some deals have expired—but I’ve still gone ahead and updated Build #2 with a faster CPU that has the same price as the original pick. That way, those still using these builds as a general blueprint can take advantage of the deal.

Other things to keep in mind:

This year, component deals often involve mail-in rebates. Be sure to file those and track them until they arrive, otherwise you could be paying $60 extra (or more) for these PCs.

These builds don’t factor in sales tax. Depending on where you live, you may have to pay up to an additional 10% for parts.

To qualify for Amazon’s Prime deals (and earlier access to some of the retailer’s limited-time Lightning deals), you can sign up for a 30-day Prime membership if you haven’t already done so in the past.

If you plan to buy anything from Newegg, be sure to sign up for a one-year Shoprunner trial, which gets you free two-day shipping and free return shipping on many items.

As always, keep in mind that these deals can expire before Black Friday if quantities run out.

Finally, if this is your first build, you can read up on how to put everything together in our step-by-step guide.

The Ryzen 3 1200 is limited to 1 per household and in-store pickup only.

Price is after $20 mail-in rebate.

This Gigabyte motherboard lacks onboard Wi-Fi, so you’ll have to spend another $15-30 on a wireless adapter if you can’t use an ethernet connection.

Sale begins 11/20. (Yes, this is sadly the best “sale” price for RAM right now.)

Sale ends 11/19. Price is after $20 mail-in rebate. (You can also get a version of this card for $80 after $20 mail-in rebate once the sale ends.)

Sale begins 11/20. Price is after $10 mail-in rebate.

Sale begins 11/24. Price is after $10 mail-in rebate.

In order to get this build for the prices I’ve listed, you have to live near a Micro Center. You’ll also need to be meticulous about filing and tracking mail-in rebates. (I recommend starting a spreadsheet and setting reminders for filing deadlines.)

But if you’re willing to put in the work, you get an extremely affordable FreeSync-ready system. Sure, this year’s build is $17 more than 2016’s, but it has better longevity. You get a modern processor—and more importantly, a modern motherboard that supports faster storage and CPUs, should you ever choose to upgrade down the road.

This particular rig does have slower storage than last year’s: To get the absolute cheapest build, I had to go with a hard-disk drive. If you’re willing to pay an additional $5, you can get a 128GB SSD instead. Personally, I’d recommend that upgrade for a far more pleasant experience, though you will be constrained in storage space. (You can of course just splurge and just buy both drives: The SSD to serve as the boot drive, and the 1TB HDD for data storage.)

Other areas I’d spend extra cash on would be a nicer case and power supply. (See below for a build featuring these upgrades.) I might also choose to complete the build with a FreeSync monitor. Staples has a 27-inch Dell IPS 1920x1080 FreeSync monitor for $100, which is really damn nice. While a display of its size has less pixel density at that resolution, you’re getting a 75Hz IPS panel that supports the joy of variable refresh rates for dirt cheap.

Update (11/23/2017): You can actually get this monitor for about $75 if you add a cheap filler item to bring your cart total to $100, then use Visa Checkout.

Adding in the monitor brings the cost of the system up to $469. (Or $445, if you take advantage of that Visa Checkout promotion.) Not too shabby at all for a upgradable gaming PC with some bells and whistles.

Note: If you’re wondering about that $30 price for Windows 10, that’s done through a method Brad Chacos has recommended to our staff for a while now—buying a product key through Kinguin. It works, but be sure to get the Buyer Protection. The site functions like an eBay for software, and that insurance will protect you from any bad sellers.

If you prefer buying software from only reputable sources, you can purchase a Windows 10 Home 64-bit OEM license from Newegg for $85. (Sale begins 11/20; use coupon code BF17FLYER10 at checkout.)

Build #2: The cheapest gaming PC possible if you don’t live near a Micro Center

This is a price match with Newegg’s sale, which lasts until 11/25. It’s possible Amazon’s price will rise once the competing price is gone.

Sale ends 11/20. Price is after filing $10 mail-in rebate.

This motherboard lacks onboard Wi-Fi, so you’ll have to spend another $15-30 on a wireless adapter if you can’t use an ethernet connection.

Sale begins 11/20. (Yes, this is sadly the best “sale” price for RAM right now.)

Sale ends 11/19. Price is after $20 mail-in rebate. (You can also get a version of this card for $80 after $20 mail-in rebate once the sale ends.)

Sale begins 11/20. Price is after $10 mail-in rebate.

Sale begins 11/20. Price is after $10 mail-in rebate.

Sale begins 11/24. Price is after $10 mail-in rebate.

Turns out you don’t need to live near a Micro Center to build a cheap gaming PC: It’s just $10 more for this Black Friday build. Heck, you could even argue it’s only $5 more, since the price of Build #1 goes up if you put an SSD into it.

Update (11/24/2017): Amazon just dropped the price of the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X to $100. Since that’s the same price as the Ryzen 3 1200 I originally chose, I’ve swapped it in as this build’s CPU. Guess it’s not complete sour grapes if you don’t live near Micro Center!

(If you’ve already purchased the Ryzen 3 1200, you should be able to return it if you bought it through Amazon or Newegg. However, doing so may involve return shipping costs.)

You do get minimal storage in this rig, though. Adding on a 1TB HDD will be about $10 to $15 more expensive than Micro Center—unless Amazon comes through with a sale over the weekend.

The Ryzen 3 1200 is limited to 1 per household and in-store pickup only.

Price is after $20 mail-in rebate.

This Gigabyte motherboard lacks onboard Wi-Fi, so you’ll have to spend another $15-30 on a wireless adapter if you can’t use an ethernet connection.

Sale begins 11/20. (Yes, this is sadly the best “sale” price for RAM right now.)

Sale ends 11/19. Price is after $20 mail-in rebate. (You can also get a version of this card for $80 after $20 mail-in rebate once the sale ends.)

Price is after $15 mail-in rebate. If you’re not an Amazon Prime member, you can also buy this through Newegg until Sunday, 11/19.

Sale ended 11/18. This price was after $20 mail-in rebate.

If I were going to build a dirt-cheap gaming PC using Black Friday deals, I wouldn’t slash every single penny I could. Instead, I’d strike a balance between “cheap as possible” and “easy upgrading in the future.”

So, assuming I lived near a Micro Center, I’d mostly keep the structure of Build #1 but upgrade the storage, case, and power supply. (You can do this with Build #2 as well, but it’ll cost about $10 to $15 more because of the hard drive.) The SSD as a boot drive will give me a much more pleasant day-to-day experience when using the system, while the power supply will support a broader range of graphics card upgrades down the road. And the case has a more attractive look and a better layout.

I would also still add on that 27” Dell FreeSync monitor, too, which brings the grand total to $514 if I buy it through Staples. (Or even $489 if I use Visa Checkout and snag the automatic $25 off $100 promotion.)

Parts, parts, and more parts

If these suggested builds don’t quite suit your taste, you can peruse this curated list of component deals and swap in your preferred parts. We’ll do our best to keep the information up to date through the end of Thanksgiving weekend, but prices can change fast.

Lists last updated: November 23, 2017

If you decide to mix and match to create your own custom build, double-check that your CPU and motherboard are compatible with each other. Here’s a handy cheatsheet:

Enthusiast

$295 - AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3.6GHz 8-Core CPU (Newegg)(MSRP $500. Price is after using coupon code MPBF17 and checking out using MasterPass. You must have a qualifying MasterCard credit card to use MasterPass.)